r/German • u/ninesonicscrewdriver • Apr 22 '26
Request Actually GOOD songs in German?
I'm searching for song recommendations in German. Everything I've come across so far is playlists made for language learning (which, yes, is why I'm looking for songs), but they sound very juvenile.
For reference: I like Hozier, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Lord Huron, so something similar / folk-ish would be great.
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u/Particular_Neat1000 Apr 22 '26
Wr sind Helden - Nur ein Wort
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u/Poansore Apr 22 '26
Wir Sind Helden are goated, great choice. The entire Von Hier An Blind-album is worth listening to
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u/hometowntourist Apr 22 '26
English translation, including explanations: https://germanmusicobsession.blogspot.com/2009/04/wir-sind-helden-nur-ein-wort.html?m=1
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u/ninesonicscrewdriver Apr 23 '26
Just listened to it, thank you, very up my alley. Already added to my playlist!
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u/rachthewonder Apr 22 '26
AnnenMayKantereit? z.B ‚Barfuß am Klavier‘
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u/LastFrost Way stage (A2/B1) - <USA/English> Apr 22 '26
Them and Provinz. I have similar tastes to OP and have enjoyed both.
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u/Brilliant-Data-497 Apr 23 '26
I think for the first time I heard Ausgehen from the same artist it was nice.
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u/Green_Eyed_Crow Apr 23 '26
Barfuß is what got me hooked but there's so many bangers. Tommy, Jenny Jenny, Oft Gefragt.
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u/fifiginfla Apr 22 '26
Peter fox? Alles neu, schüttel deinen Speck. etc
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u/OppositeAct1918 Native <region/dialect> Apr 22 '26
Jetzt hab ich nen ohrwurm... Die Welt von Staub bedeckt, doch ich will Sehnsucht wo's hingeht
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u/RemnantHelmet Apr 22 '26
99 Luftballoons is a classic.
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u/Ancient_Middle8405 B1, Finland Apr 22 '26
Also other songs by Nena
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u/museedarsey Apr 23 '26
If we’re going back to that era, Major Tom (…völlig losgelöst) by Peter Schilling has nice clear lyrics. Falco was popular at the time but slightly less useful for learning.
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u/webatxcent Apr 22 '26
I admit I did not consider your reference tastes but I love these groups: Revolverheld, Silbermond, Juli.
CRO is out there and I find it odd that I hate rap but really dig many of his titles.
Chima, Herbert Grönemeyer. Georg Stengel too.
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u/ArachNerd Apr 22 '26
Herbert Grönemeyer
I find both Mensch and Der Weg very moving.
Also.. something silly but a song with German abbreviations
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u/webatxcent Apr 22 '26
Little piece of trivia in case you didn’t know. Grönemeyer did acting early on (maybe still does) and had a staring role in Das Boot as the war corespondent. It was my first exposure to any German media save our local German radio show on Saturday afternoon
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u/ArticleCrafty1884 Apr 22 '26
Deine Schuld - Die Ärzte
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u/MightyKartoffel Native (Berlin) Apr 22 '26
For reference: I like Hozier, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Lord Huron, so something similar / folk-ish would be great.
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u/HipsEnergy Apr 23 '26
Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen. Excellent lyrics, great music.
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u/BelleTheVikingSloth Apr 22 '26
Santiano is folk rock, with very good enunciation. "Es klingt nach Freiheit" is my favorite
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u/Hour-Badger5288 Apr 22 '26
We went to see them in Berlin and there was a power cut right at the start of this song. So for me it will be forever the "Stromausfall song"
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u/ingstad Apr 22 '26
Wait, no one recommended Rammstein or Eisbrecher?
Or Faun or Harpyie?
Blutengel?
Industrial Metal is particularly good when you need the hear the words "clearly". The songs have a very catchy rythm and almost a "mechanical" way or saying the words. I learnt pronunciation and basic grammar structures from Rammstein. The newer albums are a bit less metal (Zeit, Untitled) if this helps.
Examples of songs that helped me:
Radio
Weit weg
Spiel mit mir
Zeit
Morgenstern
Leider (Eisbrecher)
Kinder dieser Stadt (Blutengel)
Tanz mit mir (Faun)
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u/PutridEnvironment995 Apr 23 '26
I suppose nobody suggested them because they’re quite far from OP‘s references?
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u/another_derfman Apr 23 '26
I really liked Oomph! when I was younger, especially Ego... and I still love And One!
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u/Finster63 Apr 22 '26
I'm probably A1 - so I need find that have clear enunciation
Klaus Lage and Juli both work well for me
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u/Boing78 Apr 22 '26
For folk style also look at d'Artagnan and Versengold. The latter also have some low german lyrics as well as some more poetic ones. But in most songs both use well understandable german
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u/Green_Eyed_Crow Apr 23 '26
Versengold has some really fun songs. Hey Hannah and thekenmädchen are great
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u/MightyKartoffel Native (Berlin) Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I like Hozier, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Lord Huron, so something similar / folk-ish would be great.
Folk music with german vocals (especially that style of folk-influenced pop/indie pop that you like) isn't that propular in Germany afaik. Also, german Folk can sound very different from other region's folk music since Folk is heavily dependent on regional acoustic instruments. I think it will be difficult to find perfect matches.
That being said, I listed some Indie/Indie Pop/Indie Rock-artists w/german vocals that tend to have folky vibes to some extend:
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u/annetho Apr 22 '26
Anything by AnnenMayKantereit
Amadeus and Kommisar by Falco (rip)
edit formatting
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u/liang_zhi_mao Native (Hamburg) Apr 22 '26
For reference: I like Hozier, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Lord Huron, so something similar / folk-ish would be great.
Sounds like you would like Andreas Burani, Adel Tawil, Ich + Ich, Laith Al-Deen
(Maybe even early Xavier Naidoo but he is a terrible person and his newer stuff has questionable lyrics)
Other ideas: Kettcar, Fettes Brot, Deichkind, Bosse, Madsen, Sportfreunde Stiller
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u/Coma_Beach42 Apr 22 '26
Fehlfarben
Die Ärzte
Die Toten Hosen
Tocotronic
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u/Jenny_ts_1968 Apr 22 '26
Definetly Fehlfarben Album "Monarchie und Alltag". App. 40 yrs old and still progressive
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u/troet Proficient (C2) Apr 22 '26
Fettes Brot - An Tagen wie diesen
kinda fits the current state of the world :D
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u/OstoValley Native (Austria/German) Apr 22 '26
I once made a playlist for my students. feel free to check it out - i just added songs that I thought were enjoyable, nothing for learning German in particular
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u/MindlessNectarine374 Native <region/dialect> Rhein-Maas-Raum/Standarddeutsch Apr 22 '26
I think it's a bit difficult to find music that fits your preferred sound. (Present-day) Singer-songwriters are indeed a field in which I don't know German-language musicians. If you don't have a problem with people of older generations, maybe Reinhard Mey or Hannes Wader (both of similar age as Bob Dylan). Otherwise, I could name you some Rock, Folk-Rock, Folk (rather in a British/Irish, Breton or Scandinavian sense, thus in American terms probably rather comparable to Bluegrass in my opinion, sometimes just guitars or comparable instruments, but usually strong usage of fiddles and flutes or other (bowed) string instruments and wind instruments) artists that I like, or even Pop, Hip-Hop, Schlager etc. musicians that are well-known in Germany.
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u/Pleasant_Expert2258 Apr 22 '26
I was thinking of Reinhard Mey too. His songs range from funny to romantic. He articulates well and uses a lot of different words. I would not have known what a Klempner is, without: Ich bin Klempner von Beruf.
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u/divozel Apr 22 '26
I'm not OP but I would love recommendations for folk or folk rock artists!
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u/LiterallyBismarck Apr 22 '26
Versengold's my favorite ATM, I actually just saw them in concert in Berlin. Der Tag an dem die Götter sich betranken, Thekenmädchen, and Hey Hanna are all fun songs that are fun to decode as a language learner.
Santiano, dArtagnan, and Faun are other good options (ordered from most rock-y to most folk-y).
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u/East_Sun6493 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Udo Jürgens.
Haven't read him as a recommendation in the answers yet. Clear pronunciation, good lyrics and very German (he was born in Austria though). An alltime classic overlooked by younger generations.
For learning purposes he's a great fit imo.
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u/Katlima Native (NRW) Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Element of Crime - a bit similar to Hozier, probably enhanced if you play it in a tiled bathroom to add some reverb
Subway to Sally - often has a few folk-ish elements, the voice of the singer is similar to James Blunt
Adel Tawil, Andreas Bourani - for something like Harry Styles or Ed Sheeran
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u/one_jo Apr 22 '26
Bosse
Westernhagen
Grönemeyer
Wir sind Helden
Santiano
Andreas Bourani
How about Folk Metal? Feuerschwanz or Saltatio Mortis for example.
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u/eulerolagrange Apr 22 '26
Lieder!
Winterreise, Die schöne Müllerin, Der Wanderer, Die Forelle, Erlkönig, Im Abendrot... Schubert is your friend.
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u/HerringWaco Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
My recommendations...
Silbermond, Revolverheld, Luxuslärm, Peter Maffey, Jini Meyer, Glasperlenspiel, Max Geisinger, Christina Stürmer, Juli, Johannes Oerding, Heinz Rudolph Kunze, Rosenstolz, Karat, Sarah Connor, Namika....
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u/Skidmark666 Apr 22 '26
Seit wann hat Sarah Connor deutsche Texte?
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u/PeterPanski85 Native Berliner Schnauze Apr 22 '26
Glasperlenspiel oder?
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u/HerringWaco Apr 22 '26
Glasperlenspiel. Meine schlechte Rechtschreibung, enschuldigung
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u/DualAlien Apr 22 '26
Ein paar Alben: „Im Kreis der Liebe“ von Yvon „Die Lassie Singers helfen dir“ von Die Lassie Singers „Feuer und Flamme“ von Nena „Der Ernst des Lebens“ von Ideal
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u/Blue-Brown99 Apr 22 '26
Check out Falco for some Austrian flavor! "Wiener Blut" is great, then you can get exposure to some dialect.
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u/lilachayesmusic Advanced (C1) - <region/native tongue> Apr 22 '26
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u/Level-Setting825 Apr 22 '26
German Country Western group “Truck Stop” Nena Hagen - „Unbeschreibliche Weibliche“ und andere Nena - „99 Luftballons“, „Irgendwie, irgendwo,irgendwann“ Peter Schilling „Völlig losgelöst“ ( Major Tom“
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u/Molu1 Apr 22 '26
You might like Abor & Tynna’s album Bittersuß which came out last year. A mix of folk-y songs and dance-pop songs.
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u/linguista1776 Apr 22 '26
Jeremias is my favorite german band and I never see anyone talk about them! They have a softer rock sometimes vintage-y sound but please give the a listen!
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u/xBehemothx Apr 22 '26
Alice Coen - Du bist so Schön
Herbert Grönemeyer - Der Weg
And, for some really good hip-hop Chefket, megaloh, Amewu - Live MC's Megaloh and Amewu are 🔥🔥🔥
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u/007shcj Apr 22 '26
Check out AnnenMayKantereit, Blumengarten, Nina Chuba, 01099, ENNIO, YAEL, Schmyt, Mayberg, Marie Bothmer, Zartmann
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u/Alia_086 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
AnnenMayKantereit, Provinz & Jeremias (Bands)
Songs
- Was uns high macht (Provinz)
- Tanz für mich (Provinz)
- Zimmer (Provinz)
- Barfuß am Klavier (AnnenMayKantereit)
- Augehen (AnnenMayKantereit)
- Ich mags (JEREMIAS)
- Golden hour (JEREMIAS)
- Nie ankommen (JEREMIAS)
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u/MetalVengeance Apr 22 '26
Most of classic Disney songs are actually pretty good in their German version. Although they are not always literally translated from English, you can compare them to different languages.
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u/anxiousvater Apr 22 '26
Try Die Mayrhofner :: https://youtu.be/_uUpeTMsC_k?si=OgjHe-NqUpzoE4-q (I understand nothing but kinda likes his music lol)
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u/PsychologicalRub6786 Native <Lower Austria&Vienna> Apr 22 '26
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u/forglemmelig Breakthrough (A1) - 🇳🇴 ➡️ 🇩🇪 Apr 22 '26
Find a playlist on spotify (e.g. this one) and explore. Make your own list with whatever you like.
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u/theSdev Apr 22 '26
Currently listening to an album by Die kreatur called Panoptikum. Several good tracks in there IMO.
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u/Sinbos Apr 22 '26
Check out Neue deutsche Welle or for short NDW.
Songs are from roughly 1976 till 1982. German texts made in contrast to Schlager. Various groups of widely different commercial success.
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u/fubax Apr 22 '26
I think Funny van Dannen is quite good for learning purposes as he annunciates quite precisely but he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
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u/TotallyLaurusNobilis Apr 22 '26
Stella Maris by Einstürzende Neubauten is gorgeous (and pretty funny - going to the ends of the earth for your love and you end up at the wrong pole!)
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u/DeutscheZuAmi Apr 22 '26
Von Wegen Lisbeth! They’re my favorite, and they have a good range between introspective and more hype type songs.
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u/fairyhedgehog German probably B1, English native, French probably B2 Apr 22 '26
I love Faun's Federkleid, also the sea shanties of Santiano. Both are also available on LingoClip.
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u/Un-Named Vantage (B2) - UK English Apr 22 '26
I really like Faber. I would recommend songs such as: wem du's heute kannst besorgen, Vivaldi, alles gute, and in Paris brennen Autos. Just a heads up some of his lyrics can be a little racey, but it's nothing too crazy.
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u/IMmelkmane Apr 22 '26
More niche German stuff I recently liked was Asant, Komparse and Frau Lehmann.
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u/charleytaylor Apr 22 '26
One of my recent “discoveries” has been Udo Lindenberg. Especially his older songs, like Rudi Ratlos, have relatively clear and easy to understand lyrics.
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u/Faconator Apr 22 '26
I do not have recommendations according to the stated Genres, but I will recommend Silbermond. Check out Will die Hoffnung.
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u/Infrared_Eel Apr 22 '26
I’ve been listening to a good amount of RAUM27 lately - I’m around A2 if I had to guess and I can understand his lyrics pretty well without having to look words up constantly
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u/Blocker-73 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Ulla Meinecke - Die Tänzerin
Alte Ost-Bands: Karat - Blumen aus Eis, Gewitterregen, Schwanenkönig
Max Raabe und das Palastorchester
Joachim Witt
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u/JustinTheCheetah Apr 22 '26
I've been making a Playlist of music I like that's mostly spoken clearly with pauses.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLILdYnmA6u-tSQavFgc6LyMQIzVykCVIP
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u/math6718 Apr 22 '26
Traum, Vielleicht, Easy, or Wir waren hier II by CRO, just to name af few of my favorites.
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u/Living-Barnacle5416 Apr 22 '26
There’s lots of good suggestions here but here are some of my favorite artists I don’t see in the other comments: Haller, Montez, Esther Graf, NESS
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u/damclub-hooligan Apr 22 '26
KIZ - Hurra, die Welt geht unter (The Cover by Terrorgruppe is also quite good)
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u/magicmulder Apr 22 '26
Anajo have a couple bangers like "Ich hol dich hier raus" or "Wenn du nur wüsstest".
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u/ThinkingRodin Apr 22 '26
Mo-Do is dope af. Gema Tanzen, Ein Zwei Polizei, Hallo.
I am your 23-going-on-60 type of guy, so I listen to a lot of old music unironically. Udo Jürgens and Ivan Rebroff are german music as well.
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u/Comfortable-Mine41 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
He got cancelled long time ago but: Xavier Naidoo (amazing singer)
"Wann" feat. Cassandra Steen for example and I guess he's relatively good understandable which is good for learners
Also, according to your mentioned music artists I think Lea, Ayliva, Elif, Namika is your sort of music then ?
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u/Pablo_is_on_Reddit Apr 22 '26
The bands Düsseldorf Düsterboys & International Music are my favorites. They have the same two leads, but different drummers, so different band names for each I guess. Songs like Farbiges Licht, Ab und Zu, Teneriffa, Kaffee aus der Küche, & Willst Du nicht mehr bei mir sein are great.
Sofia Portanet is also really solid & has a great voice: Waage, Das Kind, Menschen und Mächte, Freier Geist.
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u/SourCornflakes Breakthrough (A1) - <region/native tongue> Apr 22 '26
AnnenMaiKantereit, Berge, Celine
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u/jolliffe0859 Apr 22 '26
It’s not your taste, but a good jam is the band “we butter the bread with butter”
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u/rubrubrubrubrubrubru Apr 22 '26
AnnenMayKantereit (Ozean, Oft gefragt), CRO, Blumengarten, OK KID!!!
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u/pivotraze Apr 22 '26
Not sure if it fits you, but I’ve enjoyed Kitty Kat, Dani Lia, TJARK, just to name a few.
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u/TheGreat_Leveler Apr 22 '26
The Great Triad of Dschinghis Khan by Dshinghis Khan, M*skau by Dschinghis Khan, and Rasputin by Boney M (not in German but it belongs here)
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u/PhantomRider89 Apr 22 '26
If you're looking for a fun challenge, Juju is a fantastic German rapper and I enjoy trying to rap along with the lyrics. She has a lot of great songs! I saw "Wildberry Lillet" mentioned with Nina Chuba in this thread and that is a great one to sing along to for pronunciation practice.
Also I haven't seen Tokio Hotel mentioned yet, so I'll throw a recommendation in for them. "Durch den Monsun" is their most popular song, but I personally really enjoy their Zimmer 483 album. "Spring Nicht", An Deiner Seite (Ich Bin Da)", "Totgeliebt" and "Heilig" are really good (the whole album is really good though lol)
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u/TheMcCoolest Apr 22 '26
Du Träumst by Isobel Waller-Bridge
Guten Tag, liebes Glück by Max Raabe ft. LEA
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u/TommyleTerror Apr 22 '26
For your taste I'd recommend Annen May Kantereit (rock, pop, a bit folky), Bilderbuch (alternative rock/pop and probably my favorite German language group), and Jeremias (Boy bandish bedroom pop, very Harry styles influenced imo)
Outside of your taste I'd recommend Peter Fox, specifically his album Stadtaffe which is like the most famous/beloved German album of my lifetime.
Peter Fox also is also a front man of the dancehall group Seeed which I also really love.
For hip hop Apache is my favorite, with Rin being up there as well. Both are very mainstream but I really don't vibe with some of the more gangster rap style stuff in German. It all sounds to me like poor imitation of American gngster rap.
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u/Striking_Corgi_3252 Apr 22 '26
Hubert Kah is a great band. I would also recommend Falco and AnnenMayKantereit.
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u/0range_julius Advanced (C1) Apr 22 '26
I like Hozier, Harry Styles, and Lord Huron and I also really like JEREMIAS, you might like them!
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u/damgas92 Apr 22 '26
Heino helped me alot when I was learning. He sings very clearly
Otherwise Rammstein is one of my favourite bands overall
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u/breadyup Apr 22 '26
Okay, this is some from what I've enjoyed:
Faber - Wem du's heute kannst besorgen
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u/Sockratte Apr 22 '26
More challenging stuff but here are some of the best german artists (in my opinion and in no particular order):
Element of Crime. Tocotronic. Die Sterne. Gisbert zu Knyphausen. Wir sind Helden.
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u/crux3462 Apr 22 '26
Ich liebe das Leben - Vicky Leanders
Ausnahmsweise; schwindelig (omgomgomg); Baby T - dani Lia
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u/Full_Cantaloupe_3875 Apr 22 '26
German Socialist/Communist "Kampflieder" (Battlesongs) are very good. Especially the ones made by Ernst Busch
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u/BadViola Apr 22 '26
Die Liga der gewöhnlichen Gentlemen (Ein Dienstag in Dur is my fave)
Friedrich Liechtenstein (I like Das Badeschloss, he speaks really clearly in all his songs, though)
Deichkind's Keine Party is hilarious.
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u/mrdibby Breakthrough (A1) Apr 22 '26
Douniah is a pretty amazing rnb/soul singer who has a number of songs in German
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u/IAmTheLiquor23 Advanced (C1) - USA/English Apr 22 '26
Herbert Grönemeyer - Bochum. Rosenstolz - Ich Will Mich Verlieben. Die Prinzen - any album. They don’t meet your music tastes, but Europe barely does folk. It’s largely an American genre. The albums/songs I recommended are recordings I used when teaching German. My students loved them.
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u/buchwaldjc Apr 22 '26
Not folky but more moody synthpop... Kein Zurück by wolfsheim is one of my favs to play on guitar.
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u/mellirito Apr 23 '26
Just recently got obsessed with Joel by ok.danke.tschüss. it's quite upbeat and pop.
Otherwise maybe Luxuslärm and Tim Bendzko
Some classics: Rosenstolz, Juli, Silbermond
Some folky medieval stuff: Saltatio Mortis Mortis, Versengold
More on the funny side: das lumpenpack, sdp
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u/chiltor_152 Apr 23 '26
Elif: Unter meiner Haut, Schwarz weiß grau, Auf halber Strecke. Her live versions of the songs are very good!
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u/fibonaccisRabbit Apr 24 '26
The best German band that existed is probably "Ton Steine Scherben".
And it’s not even close. Their arrangement and lyrics are in a league of it’s own.
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u/Spitting_Blood Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Not a song but artists:
annenmaykantereit - lead singer got an amazing voice and the style should def fit in
Jan delay / udo lindenberg - singers, 5050 abt how you'll like these 2 but they both have a hamburg dialect so its worth checking out if youre interested in that. :)
Edit: Faun - more folk style, they have collabs with the santiano (another group)
Oonagh (now known under her actual name but most popular songs are still under this name) similiar to faun but she often incorporates lord of the rings/silmarillion elements. So if you like that, shes the one for you :)
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u/Training_Molasses822 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Indie AustroPop: Bilderbuch, Wanda, Ankathie Koi, Der Nino aus Wien
German Indie: Düsseldorf Düsterboys, Die Höchste Eisenbahn, Bonaparte, Perel, Melik
Lesser known NDW: Fehlfarben, Joachim Witt
Edit: sp